Steve Cloke while visiting Oceanworld Manly in Australia on a Extreme Shark Dive in the Aquarium was injured by a Gray Nurse Shark on the head.****

Shark attack at Oceanworld ManlyArticle from: The Daily Telegraph

By Michelle Cazzulino

October 22, 2008 05:30pm

ATTACK confirmed ... photo of one of the sharks at Oceanworld Manly.

gray_nusre_shark.jpg (15.87 KiB) Viewed 4965 times

A PERSON, believed to be a man, has been injured by a shark at Oceanworld Manly, an ambulance spokesman has confirmed.

Few details are known about the attack, which occurred at 5.15pm.

The ambulance spokesman said the person was "conscious and breathing" and being treated at the scene by paramedics.

Initial reports indicated the man was bitten by a shark. But latest reports from ambulance sources say the guy was ``bumped'' on the head by a grey nurse shark and was not seriously hurt.

Oceanworld Manly has a tank - known as Extreme Shark Dive - filled with the largest sharks in captivity in Australia.

In 2005, the Extreme Shark Dive manager described his job and what the shark tank is like in this article republished below from The Sunday Telegraph. At the time there had been no reports of any shark attacks at Oceanworld.

"Dean Moore's office is a tank filled with the largest sharks in captivity in Australia.

As manager of Oceanworld Manly's Extreme Shark Dive,a tank filled with the largest sharks in captivity in Australia. As manager of Oceanworld Manly's Extreme Shark Dive, Moore is responsible for the estimated 3000 people who come to dive with sharks at the oceanarium yearly.

And the number of people taking "extreme" dives has increased by about 80 per cent a year in the three years the attraction has been open.

In 2001, Moore came up with the idea of letting members of the public dive with the sharks rather than staying dry in a 110m viewing tunnel.

"It was a risk, because if one person was attacked, the whole company would be liable," Moore says.

"But no member of the public has ever been attacked in the whole time we've been operating. The sharks are too well fed to go for the public.

"When we started, we were putting through 40 people a week; now it's about 140 a week - 3000 a year."

Because they work in a sharks' den, the diving staff at Oceanworld must be rigorously trained, and there have been very few attacks on staff.

"A small number of staff have been injured because of statistically how much time they spend in the tank," Moore says.

"But it says something about sharks that we have never had an attack while there was food in the water. All my body parts are still intact!

"It's an adrenalin rush. On the very first feed I did, I got bitten and thrown around the bottom of the tank.

"I didn't even realise I'd been bitten. They're sort of giving you a taste-test; if it doesn't taste good, they'll spit it out.

"The shark was big - more than 3m. It was easily 250kg."

Moore began working at the Oceanarium in 2001 as a volunteer, but his talent was recognised and he was offered a job.

"My job now is to see that the staff are happy. I administer first aid, and I still get pulled in to feed," he says.

The sharks dine at least three times a week on 20kg of fresh salmon and kingfish.

The Extreme Divers take three groups of four people a day for a two-hour session that includes a tour, medical and safety training.

"Eighty per cent of our market don't want to be here. They have gotten the dive as a gift certificate," Moore says.

"But it's more of a challenge for us, and it keeps my enthusiasm up, because those people are 10 times more satisfied.

"They leave crying with happiness and hugging one another.

"It's a great way of teaching people that sharks are friendly. The grey nurse was going to be extinct, but now it's known as the friendly shark."